Environmental fate of microplastics in high-altitude basins: the insights into the Yarlung Tsangpo River Basin.
J Environ Manage
; 365: 121623, 2024 Aug.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38943743
ABSTRACT
Microplastics (MPs) have been found in remote high-altitude areas, but the main source and migration process remained unclear. This work explored the characteristics and potential sources of MPs in the Yarlung Tsangpo River Basin. The average abundances of MPs in water, sediment, and soil samples were 728.26 ± 100.53 items/m3, 43.16 ± 5.82 items/kg, and 61.92 ± 4.29 items/kg, respectively, with polypropylene and polyethylene as the main polymers. The conditional fragmentation model revealed that the major source of MPs lower than 4000 m was human activities, while that of higher than 4500 m was atmospheric deposition. Community analysis was further conducted to explore the migration process and key points of MPs among different compartments in the basin. It was found that Lhasa (3600 m) and Shigatse (4100 m) were vital sources of MPs inputs in the midstream and downstream, respectively. This work would provide new insights into the fate of MPs in high-altitude areas.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Environmental Monitoring
/
Rivers
/
Altitude
/
Microplastics
Language:
En
Journal:
J Environ Manage
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
China
Country of publication:
United kingdom